It'd been a week, Jose had broken down and they got the information they needed. After a few shocks from Laxus, he was singing like a canary. The room they had him in was sound proof, so no one could hear him call for help, and he could scream very loudly. Makarov oversaw the interrogation, just to make sure his grandson wasn't going overboard. Jose had spilled everything from the research from when he and Levy's father were colleagues to Alexei. He took many notes during the interrogation, a lot of scribbles and shorthand notes that he'd clean up later. But the name Alexei stood out to him, if he was to believe Jose, that meant Alexei was the mastermind behind this, the illusive man if you would.

Shadow Gear had been out of the infirmary for about a day, their injuries being minor, but no one wanted to take any chances in case they got worse. Just a few bandages covering them still, thankfully none on the face or anywhere too noticeable. And with everyone home, they got round the clock care, no matter how irritating it got, especially for Levy, who just wanted to chill out. Since the day after their battle and her exposure, she'd been watching her phone like a hawk, waiting for Gajeel to either call or text her. He hadn't, despite his promise; she didn't blame him though, it's awkward, and painful. She could only imagine how he felt at this point, the fact that she had lied to him all this time, and the guilt he may feel for hurting her. The anticipation was killing her, so she went for it, sending him a text first.

Levy: -Hey-

She waited a little bit, staring at the phone until she saw the typing animation at the bottom of her screen.

Gajeel: -Hey-

'Hey', Levy knew this was unusual for him to text. Typically it was a "hey Shortstuff" or "my order of shortcake has finally arrived" if he was trying to be extra cute.

Levy: -I know things are probably awkward now, but I wanted to talk about it.-

Gajeel: -I just need some time to think alright-

Levy: -Oh okay. That's fine ❤-

That was it, he didn't respond to her. She set her phone down on her night stand, Shutting her eyes, she let out a heavy sigh, afraid that this would happen from the start. Seriously, she was smart, and yet she was hoping this inevitable day would happen. At least she would've hoped it'd be on her own terms, not being forced to. It sucked, but if the relationship was as strong as he thought, it would just be a small hill to get over. Yet, she still felt tears start to fall from her eyes.

Back in the interrogation room, Laxus and Mest were waiting, waiting to see if Jose had anything else to say. He hadn't spoken anymore since the night before and Laxus was going to just call it, having Mest wipe his mind of anything regarding the mysterious Alexei, Levy, and the mutant research. They both looked at him, Laxus asking if he had anything else to say before they erased his memories. The man before him, looking like a sad dog now, nodding his head and looking at the blond with a little bit of fear. Laxus looked at him, beckoning him to spill it, Jose just looked at him, saying it was for the girl, not him. With a bit of coaxing, they figured out it was Levy, telling Jose not to move, as if he had a choice; Jose had been restrained to a chair, only allowed to leave it to go to the bathroom. He hadn't tried using his powers however, probably too scared of what the blond would do, although they knew Gildarts had threatened him, showing him exactly what could happen. Mest asked Laxus if it was a good idea, it was a strange request, yet, it was up to Levy if she would listen. Laxus walked to Levy's room, he had seen her throughout the week, checking in, and making sure she was okay. He knocked on the door and heard her voice from inside telling him to come in.

Laxus opened the door, looking inside and seeing that she was lying on the bed. "You, okay?"

"Yeah, what's up?" The blunette sat up, looking at her former protector in the doorway.

"The creep wants to say something to you. Don't know what it is though." Laxus shrugged and leaned on the frame.

"Alright, I'll hear what he has to say." She got out of the bed, wearing her loungewear.

"You don't have to, just wanted to check with you." He led her down the hall, toward the elevator that led to the underground interrogation room.

"It's fine, if it gives any extra information, it's necessary. No matter what." Levy was determined.

Laxus led her inside, Mest was waiting outside the room, not liking the way Jose had looked at him before. He opened the door for them and waited outside. Levy looked at Jose, looking like a shell of someone who had tortured and intimated her before. He looked pathetic, making her realize how silly it was that she let him frighten her in the slightest. She sat in a chair across from him, looking at him, seeing him look back, with a ghoulish look.

"You had something to say?"

"Yes, it's about your father's death." A weak smile formed on his face.

"What about it?" She narrowed her eyes at him, not knowing if he was serious.

"I was there when he died. I know what happened."

"What happened that night, Jose? What do you know?"

Jose smirked and started to tell his story. "I went to your father that night, before his death. It was about the experiments, the tests, and you. I told your father that if you were like him, you could be our first volunteer, testing the limits of what it meant to be a mutant. But he didn't want that, he said you were normal, and forcing children to do tests was unethical. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know half of it. See, I had initially come to find you, to find out if what he was saying was true, but he said you weren't there. That you were with a relative. I knew it was a lie, you have no extra family. Sick of his lies, I killed him, point blank, he never saw it coming. I tried looking for you, but I couldn't find you. And I left"

It all came back now. Levy's father had told her that they'd play hide and seek, that he'd find her. She loved playing that game because she got to use her powers. That night, she made a cardboard box and hid in the basement. She knew she heard a loud bang, but her dad always told her that during hide and seek, she was not to come out until someone found her. The realization came to her, he knew one day Jose might kill him, that's why he made that rule, the number one rule of their version of hide and seek. Makarov was the one to find her, shielding her from what happened, only telling her that her father had passed away. She didn't know it, but tears were now rolling down her eyes and her body reacted on its own. Levy had unconsciously formed a knife in hand, lunging at Jose, pressing the blade to his neck, drawing the slightest bit of blood before realizing what she was about to do.

"Levy, don't do this, it won't bring your dad back." Laxus grabbed her hand, trying to gently force it away from the man before them.

Jose looked at Laxus before flashing a smile back at Levy. "You know you want to get your revenge. An eye for an eye, I take your father and you can take your boyfriend's."

She sniffled, lowering the knife as well as her own head, "You're not his father! You never were!" The blunette screamed and ran out of the room, falling to her knees while tears ran down her face.

"Mest, make sure this bastard forgets his own name. I don't even care." Laxus walked out, leaving Mest to his own devices.

Mest wasn't cruel and he wasn't going to go that far, just make this guy forget all about his job, his current life, and the three kids in his care. And in their place, an extended trip up north where he can't hurt anyone. Mest walked up to the man, putting his fingers to the man's temples and closing his eyes, traveling into Jose's mind and making sure to wipe his memory and fabricate new ones. Of course, he made sure to keep a few unrelated memories here and there, trying to make the fake memories seem real.

Levy was on the floor crying, balling her eyes out while trying to wipe her face. She hadn't felt this bad since she heard about her father's death. Right now, she felt like she was right back in that moment all over again, especially with Laxus there, patting her back, telling her to let it out. He hated seeing her like this. In his eyes, she was strong, maybe not the most when it came to physicality, but emotionally and mentally, she was as strong as an ox. He honestly wasn't sure what to do, he vaguely remembered what his grandfather did back then, but not enough to feel useful.

Slowly, he cradled her body, picking her up and carrying her to the elevator. Her face was buried in his neck, the tears like rain on his shirt and skin. He pressed the number on the elevator, going back up to the main house with a sigh, holding the girl in his arms closely. Laxus carried Levy to his room, ignoring the looks he got along the way. He then placed her on his bed and left the room, she was no longer crying, trying to figure out what was happening. Levy wiped her eyes, looking around the room, realizing she hadn't actually been in his room since she was a preteen. It was the same size as hers, but he had a tv with a gaming console hooked into it, with a few other additions like a mini fridge and some posters. When Laxus came back, his arms were full of sheets and blankets, dumping them on the bed before spreading them out in a pile on the floor, creating a makeshift bed on the floor. Then he grabbed one pillow from his bed and dropped it on top of the covers.

Walking around the makeshift bed on the floor, he sat on his own bed, looking over the girl next to him. Levy was a bit awkward with him sitting next to her, they'd not been this friendly in years, but she wasn't opposed to him being nice like this.

"I thought we could have a little sleep over, like when we were kids. We could watch a movie, play games, anything you like, Lev." Laxus leaned back on his elbows.

"Thanks, I guess we can play some video games, I didn't know you had this console in your room." She sniffed and smiled a little.

"Alright then." The blond man got up, walking over to the console, pressing the on button and grabbing both controllers. One was gold and the other was cyan with magenta accents, it looked like a knock off, but cute. He handed her the cyan controller, keeping the gold for himself.

The console came on, and Laxus clicked on his profile, there were only two, himself and the other was dubbed "guest." Clicking through the screens, he showed her all the games he had in his library. Levy didn't know how much Laxus liked gaming, seeing a few sports games, a lot of fighting games, and a few one off games here and there. One big shock was that he liked life simulator games, he said it made him relaxed.

"I didn't know you had the new Beast Finder game. Is it any good?" Levy asked, turning to him with stiff puffy eyes.

"Yeah, bought it, played it, finished it. No, it's nothing like the spinoff we played in middle school okay, this is the grown up version." He used his controller to click on the game, putting up the start screen, playing the nostalgic music.

"I know, Beast Finder: Tales is a spinoff for kids, but it was a good game, and I want to try the new one." She pouted.

"Alright, go on and make your character then. But you better not cry if it's too difficult." He hands her the controller and leans back against the headboard of his bed.

Levy made her character as close as possible to her real self. The opening scene was fine, an introduction to the conflict of the game, coming to a new land, it was typical for this sort of game. That was until it was time for the first quest, fighting a low level beast that was causing havoc in the area. It was a bit hard, but she was able to take down the monster without losing all her HP. Levy was really enjoying the game, getting pointers from Laxus about weak points and environmental hazards. It all went downhill when Levy got to the third beast. It was a mix of a snake and a wolf, with electric properties. After a few losses, she gave up, even with Laxus' tips, she was hitting a wall. He reassured her that it took him a few tries to fight it too, but it was all about trial and error. And this game was all about failing, just made it all the more sweet when you defeat a boss. Levy understood what he was saying, remembering the spinoff had a few difficult moments, but not like this; overall, she was finished with this game, saving her progress and exiting the game. She knew there was no way she was coming back to it, but she did it anyway in case she wanted to torture herself. Laxus took the controller once more, suggesting she take her frustrations out on a fighting game, which he had plenty of. Most of them were pretty standard, the genre being full of carbon copy games with a few different cosmetics. The blunette ended up picking one based on a high fantasy game she wasn't familiar with. She chose a character named Seox because she thought he looked pretty cool, yet mysterious. Laxus laughed, saying that was a good character, but that he would beat her no problem, he chose a character named Ladiva, who was a powerhouse of a character.

Sure enough, Laxus did beat her, a few times, really, but he did let her win a round or two. Levy was having a good time with Laxus, realizing they hadn't done anything like this in a while. She blamed it on him getting older and wanting to be edgy, not edgy in an emo kind of way, but just a tough guy way. Of course she didn't like that he stopped hanging out with her, but she understood why, she didn't fit the image of him being tough. Back when he led the Thunder Legion, she thought they were all so cool. There was Laxus as the leader, but people like Bixlow, Evergreen, and Freed just added to the cool factor. Bixlow was a wild card, he even had a tongue tattoo; Evergreen was beautiful, all the guys in and out of the house thought she was attractive; and there was Freed, a bookworm like her, but with a nonchalant attitude that couldn't be beat. They all had high respect and loyalty to Laxus, that was until they all went off on their own thing, that left Laxus alone, and maybe he didn't feel cool anymore. Levy still thought he was cool, only sometimes though, when he wasn't being a jerk. But tonight, it felt like they were kids again, when Laxus had been her best friend.

As time went by, they stopped playing games and put on a movie. It was one of those low budget type films that was translated into English, but it wasn't the worst movie they'd seen. It had a cute story, and Levy seemed to enjoy it, Laxus on the other hand was more worried about other things. They were both lying on his bed, his arm around her while watching the kid's film on his television. It felt alright, purely platonic, or even a sibling sort of way. Levy felt completely relaxed right now, a lot better than how she felt earlier.

"Thank you Laxus." Levy whispered and looked up at him.

"Don't mention it. Just wanted you to be okay." He glanced down at her and rubbed her back.

"Thanks to you, I feel better than before. It felt like my dad had died all over again, and just like before, here you are to help me."

The blond smirked down at her, feeling good about himself. "Well, that's what pseudo big brothers are for right? Seriously, if I weren't here, who would you turn to?"

Levy shrugged, "Honestly, I have no clue. Probably Makarov or Gildarts, but it's not the same, you know? You lost your dad at a young age too, so I guess you have firsthand experience."

"You're not wrong", Laxus looked up at the ceiling, thinking of his father. "My dad walked out on us, left me here with Gramps. I don't even know why he left, but he never came back."

"I never knew that, I'm sorry Laxus." She wrapped her arms around him, giving him a big hug.

"He wasn't much of a father to me anyway. Sometimes I think Gramps actually kicked him out or cut him off. Hard to tell." Laxus forgot how it felt to be hugged like this, it felt great. Last time he got a hug like this was when Freed finally left the mansion to go to college. He was the last of the Thunder Legion to go, being loyal until the very end. That's what made him love Freed, he was loyal, yet honest, but he understood that staying only limited his potential. If the blond remembered correctly, his friend even cried when he finally decided to leave.

"Whatever it was, it may have been for the better. I mean, despite you being a jerk, I think you turned out pretty decent, and you're one heck of a leader when it comes to missions."

"Thanks." He held her tightly. "I wanted to apologize to you Levy."

"For what?"

"Everything. I haven't been the greatest to you these past few years, and I'm sorry about that. I abandoned our friendship to act cool, I kissed you at a party, then I tried to dictate who you date…I'm a grade A jerk."

"I've mostly gotten over you throwing away our friendship, the kiss, and you trying to tell me who I can and can't date Laxus. You were going through a phase, you were a little tipsy, and you were being protective. Everything but the kiss seemed like something a brother would do. And I wouldn't put it past you to still see me as a kid." The blunette looked at him with a smile, happy to have finally gotten an apology, feeling like their relationship was getting mended.

"Those aren't excuses, I threw away my best friend at the time-"

"You made new best friends."

"I tried to get in between you and your boyfriend-"

"Gajeel wasn't my boyfriend at the time, and you were trying to protect me as well as everyone's secret…not that it matters anymore."

"That doesn't excuse the kiss. Being drunk isn't an excuse Lev."

"It's not, but it wasn't like I was opposed to you kissing me Laxus. I used to have a crush on you dummy, sure the crush was fading before the kiss, but I didn't say no. And the kiss shouldn't matter anymore, I'm not even into you anymore Laxus."

"Ugh, you're right. No more kiss, we're going to pretend it never happened and move on. So we good? Friends again?" He posed the question.

"Friends, maybe not best friends, but still friends." Levy nodded and beamed, happy with the situation.

That evening at Jose's home, without him, it was pretty quiet. Gajeel was up in his room and Juvia was eating ice cream downstairs. Though it had only been a week, Totomaru had already moved out. He literally said "Ight, Imma head out" within two days of Jose not coming back. When questioned about where he'd go, he told them he found a new dojo in Crocus, the capital of Fiore, it was a long trip, but he could make it. Aside from that, things had been extremely boring. Neither of them had left the house once, nor actually spoken to their significant others. Gajeel was a mix of emotions, but Juvia was just prone to crying spells. Every Time she'd think of Gray, she'd start crying, practically turning herself into a puddle of water from how she may have abused her dear boyfriend. She had been watching a comedy and stuffing herself with ice cream when she heard her phone vibrate, it was Gray. She answered in a hurry, not wanting to keep her love waiting.

"Yes?! Gray?!"

"Hey Juju, that was quick. You didn't text me all week, was starting to worry about you." Gray sounded calm like always, but he had a hint of concern.

"Juvia's fine, she just wasn't sure if you wanted to talk to her. With everything that happened." Her voice got low.

"Ju, I told you, you can be normal around me. And I'm not angry about it. We just need to talk about things okay. How's that sound, maybe make it a date?"

"It sounds good, where did you wanna take J- I mean me?" Juvia was going to cry again, she knew she loved Gray.

"We can go wherever you want. Doesn't matter to me, I just wanna see you."

"Oh Gray, I guess we can go to the mall. It's nice and warm."

"Sounds great, you wanna go this evening or tomorrow?"

"Tonight, we can meet!"

"Awesome, can't wait." Gray hung up the phone.

Juvia hopped up in joy, shouting and crying tears of joy for the first time this week. Now she needed to get ready. Her eyes were puffy from her crying spells, but she could just blame it on her powers giving her watery eyes. It was cold out that evening so Juvia put on a blue sweater dress with fur on the edges. She paired it with black stockings and navy blue boots she owned. It was one of her favorite winter outfits, but this time she felt plain.

When she finished styling her hair, which she curled at the ends, she finished it off with a fur lined hat to keep her head warm. Peering into Gajeel's room on her way downstairs, she could see that he was just lying in his bed. He didn't look like he was asleep, but he wasn't awake, he may have still been in shock. But then again, who could blame him? She knocked lightly, saying that she was going out for a little while; Juvia didn't know if he heard her or not, but she just left the house. She couldn't drive, but she could get around just fine by walking, she didn't mind it. This gave her time to think about what may happen when she and boyfriend would meet. He obviously didn't sound upset, but she was still nervous about what they'd talk about. Her fear got the better of her, imagining that despite his concerned tone on the phone, he'd break her heart in an instant. She was so nervous that by the time she got to the mall, she was already ready to leave. But Juvia needed courage, she would face whatever came her way, but first she needed something warm to drink.

She sat in the food court, drinking hot chocolate, while waiting on her beloved Gray. Too focused on her drink however, she hadn't noticed him come sit with her. He was wearing a black turtleneck and jeans, along with a signature silver necklace. The water mutant blushed, finally realizing he was there with her.

"Hey Juju…"

"Hey…This is kind of awkward."

"Then I'll break the ice first." Gray laughed a little at his own joke, making Juvia perk up a little more. "So I guess we both know the truth?"

"That you and Levy are mutants, yeah. Does that go for everyone else at your home?"

Gray nodded. "That's why I was always reluctant to bring you, it was a secret and I knew some of my housemates would prefer it to stay that way."

"I get it now…did we ever fight? Did you know it was me Gray?"

He nodded again, "Yeah Ju, we fought twice. I'm the ice guy, hence my joke earlier. I knew it was you the moment we started fighting at the museum. I didn't want to hurt you, because I knew it was you. That's why I was acting like that in the mine"

"And you didn't tell me or act any differently towards me…"

"Course not, I care about you Ju. You didn't know it was me, I wasn't going to blame you for it."

"And you're not upset with me for being a criminal?" Juvia felt a tear fall from her eyes.

"Juvia," Gray grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, "you didn't choose to do those things right? You weren't the one who planned it all?"

She shook her head, "No, I went along because I felt like I had to. I never wanted to do any of it. And I didn't mean for Levy and the other two to be hurt, I had no idea what Jose was going to do. I can still hear their screams, and I just want to apologize." The tears were flowing now.

Gray stood from his chair, pulling it next to Juvia's and sitting back down. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. "Like I said, no one blames you, and you didn't know. Levy and the guys are okay, they don't harbor any bad feelings either."

"And what about Jose?" Juvia sniffled, wiping her face, worried that her crying may have caused a scene.

"The adults are taking care of him, don't worry. He won't be an issue for you guys. In fact, you can even move into our mansion if you like."

"Really, you mean it?!"

Gray nodded and was hugged by his girlfriend. He could only imagine how much of an emotional wreck she'd been before he reached out. He hated it when she cried, it made him want to freeze her tears away, and now that she knew his secret, he actually could, but not here. When Juvia pulled herself together and wiped her face, she said she wanted to walk around the mall a bit, just for a little window shopping. The stores weren't too packed, giving them space to move around as well as more items to look at. They browsed through a few stores and all of the anchor stores the mall had to offer, but nothing peaked their interest. They walked around some more until it got a bit dark outside. Their outing was nice, not like their dates, but it felt calm. Juvia had learned that Gajeel was the one who caused Gray's black eye, not Natsu, so she felt a bit bad for giving him a death glare before. Gray had explained that everyone in the house was mutant, and what they could do, just as a way to prepare her before she started to live there. She was shocked to learn that even little Wendy was a mutant. He had talked about who she had fought before, making her feel bad that some were her associates, though relieved that they didn't change how they treated her.

Gray asked about the two guys she lived with, and how they were holding up. Juvia told him that Totomaru had left, but omitted the part where he had a hunch about their secret lives. She also spoke about how Gajeel was taking it, though being cooped up in his room the past week, she could tell he was feeling troubled. Gray understood how it must feel, explaining that since he knew it was Juvia, he didn't have the heart to fight her the first time and was trying to be as nice as possible the second. And yeah, he was always a bit nervous about helping his team fight her, but it just meant that there would be less violence. The ice mutant even made a small joke about how she thought he was flirting with her in the cave. She didn't see it as funny considering the fact that she rejected him, but he said he was just being nice.

Before they went their separate ways from the mall, Juvia said she would start packing her things for when she would move into the mansion with Gray. He told her that she should let Gajeel know too, see if he wanted to come as well, stating that Levy would be excited for him to move in. She smiled and nodded her head, knowing that to be true. She bid her boyfriend goodbye and walked home, calling Gajeel to let him know she was coming back, but there had been no answer. Then when Juvia actually came home, she saw that he was practically in the same spot when she left home. It truly had affected him to his core, no doubt about it.

Juvia didn't have too many things in her room anchoring her to Jose's old place, mainly clothing. Despite having lived in the house for a number of years, it wasn't her home. Before Jose, Juvia had been in a few different homes, no one liked that she was a mutant, making her an outcast. At the last orphanage, the kid's would bully her, that's when she developed the habit of talking in third person. It was as if she was her own friend, and it turned into a defense mechanism, as if she wasn't truly herself in a sense. It did bother her though, when Jose "adopted" her, he only wanted her because of her powers, and of course it wasn't for her to do good. To him, she was a tool to be used, not a person. But she thought when she met her close friends, that they truly cared and didn't see her powers as an issue; but of course, they were mutants too, except people like Lucy. It made her feel good nonetheless, knowing that they truly did understand her feelings.

With the small amount of items she actually possessed, it didn't take her too long to actually pack. She wasn't sure how they'd get her stuff over, Gajeel could drive, but he wasn't thrilled when she told him that she too was leaving the household. Though he didn't say she couldn't, he made it clear how he felt about the situation. He thought it was risky, she had beaten up Gray and other members of the house, even if Gray was fine with it, there wasn't a guarantee that anyone else would be. Especially thinking of their team leader, Laxus. Juvia tried to tell him things were going to be fine and even tried inviting him to come too, but he refused, saying he was fine being alone.

It was still some days before school started back, so once Juvia got her stuff in the mansion, thanks to Gildarts and Gray, she was able to fully explore and become better acquainted with her housemates. She took a real tour this time, seeing the secrets of the mansion and training facilities. Juvia was even able to speak with Makarov, thanking him for allowing her to stay in his mansion, despite what happened. He thankfully reassured her that there was nothing to it, and that all had been forgiven.

This was seemingly a new start for the water mutant.